Herbed Mushroom Pizza

Have you ever cooked a pizza in your cast iron skillet? The results are truly amazing and if you can manage to do this in a convection toaster you can enjoy fresh made pizza without a sweltering kitchen.

Here’s a no-recipe walk thru to guide you through the assembly process. 

Ingredients

Crust

I suggest you make up this gluten free pizza dough or use your own pizza dough. Set aside prepared dough while preparing the topping. An 8-9” cast iron skillet can accommodate 7 oz or 200 grams of dough. 

Coarse ground cornmeal for dusting bottom of skillet.

Herbed Mushroom Topping

• 3 large shallots peeled and sliced into strips.
• A large head of mother of pearl oyster mushrooms, separate layers and slice lengthwise to create strips. 
• Generous amounts of fresh or dried thyme, rosemary, and oregano
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Olive Oil

Directions

1. In a heated skillet add 1-2 TBL of oil, add mushrooms being careful not to crowd. Set a plate that fits inside the skillet on top of the the mushrooms and press down several times to release water during the cooking process.
2. Remove the plate and continue pressing down with a spatula until they are tender. Flip and repeat. Mushrooms should be crispy on the exterior, moist inside and golden in color. Remove to a bowl, seasoning well with herbs, salt and pepper. Return pan to low heat and add shallots, stirring to not burn, cook until translucent. Add shallots to herbed mushrooms.
3. Preheat oven with to 450 degrees with iron skillet or alternatively use a pizza stone. 
4. Roll dough to fit the skillet.
5. Once oven is ready work quickly to keep pan hot. Sprinkle bottom of pan with cornmeal, slide in circle of dough and fill the center area with mushroom mixture. 
6. Bake for 15-20 mins depending on oven, crust will be golden brown.  
7. Consider adding your favorite vegan cheese the last minutes of baking or leaving it as is to enjoy the herbed flavor.